SEC Chair Paul Atkins, arrives to testify before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on Feb. 12, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Paul Atkins told lawmakers he’s eyeing a “sandbox-like environment” for entrepreneurs. The idea seems to align with a bipartisan Senate bill and the White House’s AI Action…
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., listens as Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol on May 15, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The bipartisan, bicameral AI Grand Challenges Act would task NSF with overseeing $1 million competitions where innovators use AI to solve problems in health, energy, cyber and…
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Feb. 5, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Secretary Scott Bessent said there’s still “a great amount of learning to do” on AI during a pair of Hill appearances this week about FSOC’s annual report…
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., speaks onstage at the Puck Power Breakfast on Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Puck)
Calling immigration a “challenging subject,” Sen. Mike Rounds said the “best and the brightest” foreign-born workers are needed to take advantage of the emerging technology.
Financial regulatory agencies would house AI innovation labs to test projects without “burdensome regulation or expectation of enforcement actions” under the bipartisan, bicameral bill.
A sign marks the entrance to the Department of Commerce headquarters building on April 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images)
The bipartisan bill comes as House Republicans want to give the agency $500 million for AI and modernization while also barring enforcement of state-level AI regulations.
U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D, N.Y., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., speak to reporters following a Senate Forum on Artificial Intelligence in the Russell Senate Office Building on October 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D, N.Y., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., speak to reporters following a Senate Forum on Artificial Intelligence in the Russell Senate Office Building on October 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)